Ben Allison on music piracy

Ed Fuqua · #1 11-30-2012, 12:38 PM

Enjoy!
http://benallison.com/an-open-letter-to-musicians/

**Chris Fitzgerald** · #2 11-30-2012, 02:20 PM

Nice. And extra nice because of a congressman who had something thoughtful to say:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steny Hoyer

IP rights in many respects are about raising the consciousness of good people. You’re not going to convince the bad people, the robbers and the thieves. They don’t care. But the good people understand that you are taking something of value, something that gives you pleasure, lifts you up and gives you vision. And that’s worth something.

I'm personally at a loss to explain what's going on with the business these days. In some ways it erodes my faith in human nature because stealing IP has more or less become the norm. On the other hand, it also strengthens my faith in the same because people continue to make great music, continue to write great books, and on down the line to other arts that are being "eroded" in this way. Big can o' worms.

**Joshua** · #3 11-30-2012, 02:59 PM

Good read!

Anonymatt · #4 12-01-2012, 09:47 AM

I have a dangerous "let the chips fall where they may" attitude when it comes to a lot of things (Which may change when I have kids, you never know). This includes IP. I think I'm over it. I know there are wonderful and worthwhile things/ideas that have been propagated via the current model (I'm thinking how sorry I feel that people might pirate Ed's book, for instance), but I think we are going to transition into a new perspective on information. I'm curious to see if all the nonsense commercial music evaporates when there's no money left to be made in recordings. Maybe there will be an overall psychic improvement for everyone.

Phil Smith · #5 12-01-2012, 10:25 AM

You spend years and years cultivating radio and the idea that one can listen to music on the radio for free and now you want people to just snap out if it? How's that possible?

Bassist4Eris · #6 12-01-2012, 10:28 AM

When the history books are written, this era will be looked at as one of great growing pains. The internet has changed the way we do nearly everything, and I think it's just begun. So it's no surprise that many industries are still trying to find their place in the new reality. But throughout history, change has been inevitable, and those businesses that could adapt, survived, while those that clung stubbornly to older models did not.

I applaud Ben Allison for taking a stand for musician's rights. He is correct in framing the issue as one of "consciousness raising", since any restrictions on the flow of information will always, inevitably, become unenforcable. For every safegard they build in, some hacker will find a way to defeat it.

But I think it's also incumbent upon we musicians to find a way to make the new reality work for us. I don't really know how that will happen, but I foresee a future in which recordings are seen more as promotional, with the money in performance and licensing.

Before you flame, let me be clear: I'm not saying I like it. I'm saying it's 2012, not 1982, and this is the new reality in which we have to operate.

Ed Fuqua · #7 12-01-2012, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Smith

You spend years and years cultivating radio and the idea that one can listen to music on the radio for free and now you want people to just snap out if it? How's that possible?

http://radio.about.com/od/miscellaneous/a/aa122904a.htm

Phil Smith · #8 12-03-2012, 11:37 PM

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tim-we...b_1720504.html

Quote:

Consider this: last year Pandora generated $274MM of gross revenue, and paid $136MM of performance royalties -- approximately 50 percent of the total revenue. In the same year, SiriusXM, on revenues of $2.7B paid $205M in royalties, or 7.5 percent. Radio delivered over cable television pays 15 percent of revenue. Radio delivered over the FM/AM spectrum pays nothing to performers.

How did we get here? Many years ago, Congress decided that terrestrial radio (AM/FM) should be exempt from paying royalties to performing artists and labels. That clear policy choice, made for a number of reasons, has endured for decades and is not likely to be changed anytime soon.

gricko · #9 12-04-2012, 03:13 AM

decline in musical industry of today is not to be blamed only on internet and digital downloads.
digital revolution also happened in the field of musical instruments and recording devices rendering big studios and session musicians thing of the past.
big blame also goes to record labels for shifting the focus from an artist to to a song. result being the audience investing both finances and emotion in songs and not artist. itunes selling songs instead of albums is result of labels promoting songs not vice versa.
and finally - let's not forget the enormous rise of price for concert tickets.

all things mentioned have deep roots in the last decade of 20th century and can not be blamed only on digital download.

illegal IP download in itself is not new thing. there was CD-R before download and compact cassette before CD-Rs. and music industry was not suffering as much as it is today.
reason for decline is much deeper and multi-layered.

AuntieBeeb · #10 12-04-2012, 03:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bassist4Eris

When the history books are written, this era will be looked at as one of great growing pains. The internet has changed the way we do nearly everything, and I think it's just begun. So it's no surprise that many industries are still trying to find their place in the new reality. But throughout history, change has been inevitable, and those businesses that could adapt, survived, while those that clung stubbornly to older models did not.

I applaud Ben Allison for taking a stand for musician's rights. He is correct in framing the issue as one of "consciousness raising", since any restrictions on the flow of information will always, inevitably, become unenforcable. For every safegard they build in, some hacker will find a way to defeat it.

But I think it's also incumbent upon we musicians to find a way to make the new reality work for us. I don't really know how that will happen, but I foresee a future in which recordings are seen more as promotional, with the money in performance and licensing.

Before you flame, let me be clear: I'm not saying I like it. I'm saying it's 2012, not 1982, and this is the new reality in which we have to operate.

I shan't flame; I think you're quite right. I'm not quite so sure about recordings becoming purely promotional tools - though I admit it's a distinct possibility - but I agree otherwise. There's a question of how we protect musicians from being shafted, be it by pirates or legitimate companies, but also, at this level, the more pressing question of how the hell I'm supposed to make some money from my music with the current situation!

damonsmith · #11 12-05-2012, 09:03 AM

Yeah, the situation is harder in terms of not just making money but paying for a decent recording of your music. I got a $60 royalty check the other day and it felt like a huge event.
At the same time, as I have said before at a certain point, you can't shut the barn door after the horse is gone.
Albums made after a certain point are put out into this world - where downloading exists.
If you make an album now you are giving implicit permission for it to be downloaded for free. You don't like that? Don't make an album.
I still pay for music, I still have listeners pay me for music. The scale has changed - wider distribution, less money.
We can cry about it or figure out how to deal and get on with our music.